The UN General Assembly has announced that it would meet on Monday, October 10, 2022, hours after Russia launched a deadly barrage of missile strikes at cities across Ukraine, as Western powers condemned Moscow’s latest attacks and sought to underscore its isolation.The United Nations called the urgent meeting to discuss Russia’s declared annexation of four partly occupied Ukrainian regions, but the debate was set to be overshadowed by the attacks on Kyiv and other cities in one of the most punishing assaults on Ukraine in months.
Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky
Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has vowed even more “severe” retaliation after the recent explosion that damaged a key bridge in Moscow-annexed Crimea — an attack the Kremlin has blamed on Kyiv.
Ahead of the General Assembly session, and with tensions at a boiling point, UN chief Antonio Guterres, described Russia’s attacks as an “unacceptable escalation of the war,” his spokesman said.
US President Joe Biden meanwhile condemned the strikes in stark terms, saying they “demonstrate the utter brutality” of Putin’s “illegal war.”
“The United States strongly condemns Russia’s missile strikes today across Ukraine,” he said in a statement.
With Putin’s actions in the spotlight, UN debate will open on a draft resolution denouncing what has been widely seen in the West as Russia’s illegal seizure of Ukrainian land.
The decision to bring the annexation matter before the General Assembly, where the 193 UN members have one vote each — and no one wields veto power — was taken after Russia used its veto in a Security Council meeting September 30 to block a similar proposal.
The vote is expected no sooner than Wednesday.Related N
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